BEST OF THE BLOG

Manufacturing

The reality behind manufacturing numbers is here. US manufacturing is not really doing that bad - and 2006 was the best year ever. Don’t get caught up in mainstream media doom and gloom. They just like to hype the worst to sell papers or get TV eyeballs. Facts always get in the way of journalism - at least at the national level.

Marketing as a conversation

Here’s a follow up post by Doc Searles (co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto) about marketing. He just posted this morning, which was quite timely because I was just thinking about this. Yesterday three CIOs from technology suppliers spoke to MESA - ostensibly about CIO-stuff. Obviously all the slides had to be vetted by marketing so that the “approved” message goes out... Read more

The reinvention of air travel

I’ve been reading Jon Udell for many years. He now hosts a podcast “Interviews with Innovators” on IT Conversations. Here is a blog post about his latest - an innovator in aviation who is working on a sort of air taxi idea where people can go to a Web site and put in local airports (regional, not major) and times and destinations... Read more

MESA Charts New Path

The main keynote yesterday was given by author Peter Fingar. He really challenged me to look deeper at business process optimization and make sure I organize Automation World to probe the issues and report best practices. Today’s program featured two CIO panels - one was suppliers (GE Fanuc, Rockwell Automation, and Siemens Energy & Automation CIOs) and one was “users” (Eastman Chemicals, Sara Lee and Navistar)... Read more

Wireless Standards

Last week Jack Bolick, president of Honeywell Process Solutions, stunned the industry with an open letter to various publications urging the Hart Communications Foundation Board to vote down the latest standard that included a wireless specification. Honeywell lost the vote (unofficial sources tell me it was 4-1). Honeywell’s Jeff Becker wrote an open letter to the ISA SP100 committee that is also developing a wireless standard explaining Honeywell’s position. He gave me permission to report it... Read more

ANNOUNCEMENT

Register today for this free webcast!

Free Webcast from Automation World: “Network Management - Why, how and your ROI” Thursday, September 27, 2pm EDT.
Click here for registration details >>

ANNOUNCEMENT

Assembly Technology Expo

Find the technologies you need to reduce costs and increase productivity - no matter what you assemble. Your ATExpo badge now provides FREE admission into five co-located manufacturing events. September 24-27, Chicago, IL.
Click here for registration details >>